Iceland, which last year sparked international anger by resuming whaling after a 14-year break, is reportedly considering exporting some of its surplus whale meat to Japan.
“The possibility of exporting whale meat to Japan is one of the factors to be considered,” an official at Iceland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade told Jiji Press.
Iceland resumed whaling last year to much criticism from the international community, but argued the whaling was for research purposes. Commercial whaling is banned by the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
However, the ministry official said Iceland wants to export the surplus whale meat left over from its research programme, as its domestic market is only small.
“Iceland expects that Japan will import whale products in accordance with the rules of the World Trade Organization,” Jiji Press quoted the official as saying.
